Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History BookOpen Original Text in the general desire to
alleviate their sufferings, Oglethorpe and the trustees fully shared.
An asylum in Georgia was offered.
. . . . . . .
Forty-two men with their families, numbering in all seventy-eight
souls, set out on foot for Rotterdam. They came from the town of
Berchtolsgaden and its vicinity. . . . On the 2d of December they
embarked for England. On the 8th of January, 1734 (O. S.), having a
favorable wind, they departed in the ship _Purisburg_ for Savannah.
. . . . . . .
. . . Upon the return of Mr. Oglethorpe and the commissary, Baron Von
Reck, [sent to examine the site of the new colony] to Savannah, nine
able-bodied Salzburgers were dispatched, by the way of Abercorn, to
Ebenezer, to cut down trees and erect shelters for the new colonists.
On the 7th of April the rest of the emigrants arrived, and, with the
blessing of the good Mr. Bolzius, entered at once upon the task of
clearing land, constructing bridges, building shanties, and preparing
a road-way to Abercorn. Wild honey found in a hollow tree greatly
refreshed them, and parrots and partridges made them "a very good
dish." Upon the sandy soil they fixed their hopes for a generous yield
of peas and potatoes. To the "black, fat, and heavy" land they looked
for all sorts of corn. From the clayey soil they purposed
manufacturing bricks and earthenware.
On the first of May lots were drawn upon which houses were to be
erected in the town of Ebenezer. The day following, the hearts of the
people were rejoiced by the coming of ten cows and calves,--sent as a
present from the magistrates of Savannah in obedience to Mr.
Oglethorpe's orders. Ten casks "full of all Sorts of Seeds" arriving
from Savannah set these pious people to praising God for all his
loving kindnesses. Commiserating their poverty, the Indians gave them
deer, and their English neighbors taught them how to brew a sort of
beer made of molasses, sassafras, and pine tops. Poor Lackner dying,
by common consent the little money he left was made the "Beginning of
a Box for the Poor." . . . . . . . . By appointment, Monday, the 13th
of May, was observed by the congregation as a season of
thanksgiving. . . . .
Of the town of Savannah, the Baron Von Reck favors us with the
following impressions: "I went to view this rising Town, _Savannah_,
seated upon the Banks of a River of the same Name. The Town is
regularly laid out, divided into four Wards, in each of which is left
a spacious Square for holding of Markets and other publick Uses. The
Streets are all straight, and the Houses are all of the same Model and
Dimensions, and well contrived for Conveniency. For the Time it has
been built it is very populous, and its Inhabitants are all White
People. And indeed the Blessing of God seems to have gone along with
this Undertaking, for here we see Industry honored and Justice
strictly executed, and Luxury and Idleness banished from this happy
Place where Plenty and Brotherly Love seem to make their Abode, and
where the good Order of a Nightly Watch restrains the Disorderly and
makes the Inhabitants sleep secure in the midst of a Wilderness.
"There is laid out near the Town, by order of the Trustees, a Garden
for making Experiments for the Improving Botany and Agriculture; it
contains 10 Acres and lies upon the River; and it is cleared and
brought into such Order that there is already a fine Nursery of
Oranges, Olives, white Mulberries, Figs, Peaches, and many curious
Herbs: besides which there are Cabbages, Peas, and other European
Pulse and Plants which all thrive. Within the Garden there is an
artificial Hill, said by the Indians to be raised over the Body of one
of their ancient Emperors.
"I had like to have forgot one of the best Regulations made by the
Trustees for the Government of the Town of _Savannah_. I mean the
utter Prohibition of the Use of Rum, that flattering but deceitful
Liquor which has been found equally pernicious to the Natives and new
Comers, which seldoms fails by Sickness or Death to draw after it its
own Punishment."
FOOTNOTE:
[34] By permission of Mr. Charles Edgeworth Jones.
MARY VIRGINIA TERHUNE.
~ca. 1831=----.~
[Illustration: ~Mary Washington Monument, Fredericksburg, Va.~]
MRS. TERHUNE, better known as "Marion Harland," was born in Amelia
County, Virginia, where her father, Samuel P. Hawes, a merchant from
Massachusetts, had made his home. She began writing at the early age of
fourteen. In 1856, she was married to Rev. E. P. Terhune and since 1859
has lived in the North. Her novels, dealing chiefly with Southern life,
are very popular and have made her well known North and South. "The
Story of Mary Washington" was written in order to aid the enterprise for
a monument to the mother of Washington, which was happily consummated
May 10, 1894, by its unveiling at Fredericksburg, on which occasion
Mrs. Terhune was present, an honored guest.
WORKS.
Alone.
Moss Side.
Nemesis.
Husbands and Homes.
Helen Gardner's Wedding-Day.
Ruby's Husband.
At Last.
Empty Heart.
Judith, a Chronicle of Old Virginia.
Hidden Path.
Miriam.
Husks.
Sunnybank.
Christmas Holly.
Phemie's Temptation.
Common Sense in the Household.
Eve's Daughters.
A Gallant Fight.
Story of Mary Washington.
LETTER DESCRIBING MARY [BALL] WASHINGTON WHEN A YOUNG GIRL.
(_From Story of Mary Washington._[35])
"WMSBURG, _ye 7th of Octr, 1722_.
"_Dear Sukey_, Madam Ball of Lancaster and Her Sweet Molly have gone
Hom. Mamma thinks Molly the Comliest Maiden She Knows. She is about 16
yrs old, is taller than Me, is very Sensable, Modest and Loving. Her
Hair is like unto Flax, Her Eyes are the color of Yours, and her
Chekes are like May blossoms. I wish you could see her."
We do seem to see her in lingering over the portrait done in miniature
in colors that are fresh to this day. It is, as if in exploring a
catacomb, we had happened upon a fair chamber adorned with a frescoed
portrait of a girl-princess of a legendary age. Romancist and
biographer are one as we study the picture line by line. The brush was
dipped in the limner's heart and wrought passing well.
MADAM WASHINGTON AT THE PEACE BALL.
(_From the Same._)
Her only public appearance as the hero's mother was at the Peace Ball
given in Fredericksburg during the visit of Washington to that town.
With all her majestic self-command, she did not disguise the pleasure
with which she received the special request of the managers that she
would honor the occasion with her presence. There was even a happy
flutter in the playful rejoinder that "her dancing days were pretty
well over, but that if her coming would contribute to the general
pleasure she would attend."
. . . A path was opened from the foot to the top of the hall as they
appeared in the doorway, and "every head was bowed in reverence." It
must have been the proudest moment of her life, but she bore herself
with perfect composure then, and after her son, seating her in an
armchair upon the daïs reserved for distinguished guests, faced th Previous Next |